Sports briefs for May 12, 2004

Wednesday, May 12, 2004 | 10:17 a.m.

UNLV-Tennessee gains national spotlight

UNLV's season-opening game at Tennessee has been moved to Sunday night, Sept. 5, so that it can be nationally televised by ESPN2.

The game, originally scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 4, will kick off at 5 p.m. PST, which means it will be shown during prime time on the East Coast.

"The only other football game ESPN has that day is Louisville against Kentucky at (11:30 a.m. PST)," UNLV athletic director Mike Hamrick said. "Then we're on. Talk about your prime exposure. You're talking about Sunday night on Labor Day weekend, which is great."

The new Bowl Championship Series formula, two people familiar with it say, will have just three equal parts: the Associated Press poll of sportswriters and broadcasters, the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll and the average of seven computer polls.

Three get invitations

LeBron James, Stephon Marbury and ex-UNLV star Shawn Marion will be invited to join the U.S. Olympic men's basketball team.

UNLV hosts MWC meet

UNLV will host the Mountain West Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships for the first time. The meet started this morning and will run every day through Saturday's awards ceremony.

Sampson honored

UNLV senior outfielder Lisa Sampson has been named the Mountain West Conference softball player of the week. Sampson went 7-for-9 in four games and extended her hitting streak to six games. The Rebels compete this week in the MWC tournament in Fort Collins, Colo.

Bowe drops lawsuit

Former heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe dropped a lawsuit against former manager Rock Newman, and apologized for claiming Newman stole money from him.